A Series of (Un)Fortunate Events
by Dragen Eyez
Summary: A series of (un)fortunate events leads to more (un)fortunate events. And leads to Jane and Loki spending some quality time together in some very fun ways. The downside is that they aren't always too careful, which has some very serious consequences. includes sexual content, eventual pregnancy. This story is pretty lighthearted.
1. Prologue

The new fic I've been mentioning as of late. The idea entered my head and demanded writing immediately. So I obliged. This is the prologue, and it's quite different from the next chapter. It helps set things up though.

Warning: there will be adult themes in this story.

Disclaimer: Marvel, etc, isn't mine, no money is being made, etc.

* * *

Prologue

Thor was back. Not just on Earth or the news, but in her home. Jane had slapped him, twice. Then they had made out like two horny teenagers, trying to fall onto the couch and failing miserably. The floor was just fine.

But then Thor's stomach had rumbled mightily and they had laughed and Jane had given him a box of pop-tarts to snack on while she made a pile of sandwiches. She also brought out a brand new bag of chips for good measure, and a two-liter of Dr. Pepper. Then she worried if she had enough food and shrugged because all that would be left were some stale saltines. Jane had forgotten all about grocery shopping again and Darcy was away for a long weekend.

She and Thor sat at the rickety kitchen table on chairs that seemed child-sized compared to Thor's massive frame. They talked as they ate, and Jane learned that Loki was being forgiven for his crimes in Asgard, more or less, but that he would be serving Earth for quite a long time, helping to repair the mess he started even if in the end he had saved everyone.

Fury apparently had very mixed feelings about this. Jane could believe that; she technically worked for SHIELD now and Fury had very mixed feelings about most things. Mostly distrust, anger, and fury.

Thor, however, was ecstatic that Loki was no longer his enemy so Jane decided to try to be happy for him though it was hard when Main street was still mostly a pile of rubble.

Then she and Thor had made out again, crushing the remaining half bag of chips in the process before Thor had to shoot off to Asgard to go to some other realm to go save the day. He promised to be back within a week, no later than a month. Surely not a year and a half.

LJLJLJLJLJ

Thor's hand was just getting under the hem of her T-shirt when the damn portal summoned him back, again. For the fourth time, Jane was getting nowhere with her sort of boyfriend.

LJLJLJLJLJ

Jane managed to get through an entire make-out session with Thor and was about to take her bra off (finally!) when Phil Coulson called. He informed her he was exactly one minute and fifty-three seconds from her house and had Important Things to discuss with her.

Thor agreed to stay and summon a lightning bolt to strike Coulson down if he so much as touched her equipment.

Coulson, however, politely took a seat on a kitchen chair and was entirely unsurprised to see Thor there. He informed Jane that SHIELD wanted Jane to go to New York and live in the Stark tower, which was very conveniently located next to the brand new NYC SHIELD HQ. The sheer number of letters made her head spin. However, Jane was going to get to bring all of her equipment, including Darcy and Darcy would be getting a new iPod since hers had been lost previously. Jane would be working with Bruce Banner and occasionally Tony Stark if he ever showed up. SHIELD was offering her basically unlimited funding to continue her research with two of the smartest guys on the planet. If not THE smartest. More SHIELD involvement or unlimited particle accelerators.

Thor did not have to zap Coulson's butt, but he did have to leave before Coulson.

LJLJLJLJLJ

When Thor came and did not immediately kiss her Jane was not surprised. Nor was she surprised when he said they needed to talk. She was not even surprised when he broke things off with her. He was simply needed by the realms far too much to have a relationship with her on Midgard, he said. He could not do her such an injustice as all of these stolen half-moments.

Jane understood it. She agreed with it, even. So she sent him on his way with a hug. Then she took a shower until there was no more hot water to wash away her tears. She knew Thor was a prince and he had responsibilities across nine different realms, that he had to put Asgard before her. That did not mean it was not painful, agonizing, to be more of a bother, something Thor could not waste his precious time on because he was too busy.

New York, she decided, was going to be her new start. She would be overseeing several people who were all dedicated to her research, her ideas. She would be consulting with Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. Maybe it took a little Norse legend come to life and mysterious, secretive government agencies to get her here but she finally had academic acceptance and the resources and funding she desperately needed. Work would keep her every bit as busy as it kept Thor.


	2. Chapter 1

Warning: As of this chapter the M rating comes into play. Unfortunately, fanfiction policy doesn't let me include the, uh, fun stuff. However, I'm including a link to the full chapter here (archiveofourown dot org slash works slash 1768291 slash chapters slash 3783625) replace dot with a period and slash with / and leave out the spaces and you should be good to go. I'll include the link again when the time comes in the story, and a proper link on my profile.

Disclaimer: Marvel ain't mine, neither are Norse gods *sigh*

* * *

Chapter One

The first time Jane met Loki she had barely remembered he was occasionally on earth. In fact, she was thinking it was really weird to remember that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were not just brilliant scientists. They were Avengers. Jane had now met all of the Avengers, it was surreal to say the least.

"Dude," Darcy said. "Dude! Think about it. I mean, seriously. We're on a first name basis with honest to fucking god superheroes."

"I'm not sure that Barton and Romanov technically count as superheroes," Jane said, frowning, but she was actually amused by her somewhat crazy assistant.

"Clint totally has super eyes and super aim, and Natasha's ability to pull off wearing skin-tight cat suits is seriously super human," Darcy said. She had decided she was on a first name basis almost immediately with the Avengers. Jane was not entirely sure what they thought of it. Most of them liked it, probably. The two Avengers being discussed might have been another story.

"Can we finish going over the data from the mass spectrometer now?"

"No," Darcy said. "You promised to let us both leave way early so that we could get all fancy for the big party tonight."

"Do I have to go?"

"I checked, he's not going to be there. You need to get out, socialize, do non-sciency things like get plastered on Tony's really good, _free_ champagne. I'm doing your hair, by the way. You are not going up there all scientist-chic, aka 'I totally forgot I had to come to this crappy thing and so I just came from the lab, but I don't think I smell too bad, and I'm pretty sure this sweater doesn't have any holes, don't mind my crazy-person hair'."

Jane glared at her. "I'm not that bad."

"I know! You're the bestest boss ever cause we're gonna go get pretty and girly and I'm gonna get compliments and get to dance and get really drunk!"

"NO!" Jane said. "You can't get drunk at a SHIELD party. They might replace you with a new assistant or something."

"Nah, they'd just steal my brand new iPod that I finally got all my tunes on," Darcy said and paused. "Oh my god, they would totally do that! My iPod is going in my bra tonight, it'll be safe and sound."

Jane raised her eyebrows but did not comment, though she did let Darcy pull her away from her desk and out the door.

What she was not expecting was for Darcy to drag her into Bloomingdales. "This store is way too expenive-"

"Relax, relax. It'll be fine," Darcy said , her pace so much faster than her usual, plodding steps at work that Jane had to work to keep up with her up two escalators.

"They're staring at us," Jane whispered when Darcy stopped to look around the third floor for a moment. Jane did not care what she wore; in fact, she loved her comfortable, well-worn jeans and plaid shirts.

"You're being paranoid. We've got a fancy party to go to and we're gonna Cinderella ourselves, thanks to Bloomingdale's sales rack. Don't you dare say you can't afford it because I can and I'm your assistant."

That was how Jane ended up with an armful of black dresses to try on; she made the mistake of mentioning she did not own a "little black dress" or LBD as Darcy had termed it. Now the girl was on a mission, without neglecting her own stack, favoring colors and sparkles. All things red and gold were absolutely avoided. The price tags even on the sales rack were still making Jane squeamish even as Darcy ordered Jane into dresses and ordered her even more severely to show her every single one.

It was not the most fun experience for her, and Jane carefully picked the cheapest dress because Darcy was not going to let her wear anything she already had, and may have used words like "frumpy" and "boring" to describe her dresses. Jane stared at the dress; it was not really like her at all, but it did make her smile just a bit. Darcy's dress was dark blue with the occasional sequin to make it sparkle.

Then it was off to DSW for shoes, in the back of the store at the sales racks. Jane actually liked the heels she ended up with. They were conservative enough to wear again for a lot of different functions and settings. Darcy's were solid dark blue sparkles.

By the time they made it home Jane was feeling frazzle and worn out. Darcy ordered Jane to shower and shave "everywhere". Darcy went into her own apartment across the hall to do just that and Jane headed for her shower. At least the hot water would soothe her a little. Nonetheless, Jane found herself thinking about her dress far too much and then about Him, of course.

She grimaced. She was going to make herself as attractive as she possible could tonight and prove to herself that someone thought she was attractive. Maybe... maybe she would flirt with someone. No, that would never happen. Maybe she would get Darcy to get someone to flirt with her. That was much more likely. Hopefully, she would not chase that poor guy off by talking about too much science. Jane glanced down. She shaved "everywhere", and left her shower feeling bare and a little like someone else, someone who was a little more empowered and a little sexier.

Darcy came over wearing her robe and started going through Jane's jewelry case without even the thought of asking. "Okay, I give up. You have nothing good to wear with that dress. You're borrowing stuff from me, capice? Now come on over, I'm doing your hair because you're beyond helpless."

"I'm not that bad."

"What were you going to do with your hair? Your makeup?"

"Um, straight? No, wait," Jane said, and drew in a breath before she said, quickly, "I want to look good, like really good."

"Well, duh. We're gonna show that dick, even if he won't be there whatsoever, just how hot you are and I'm totally the girl to do it!"

Darcy worked hair magic with mousse, sprays, brushes, hairdryers, and a curling wand. Jane somehow ended up with the old Hollywood glam soft, curling wave. She got to read while Darcy did her own hair into messy curls with lots of bounce and personality; it really suited the girl's bubbly personality.

Then it came time for makeup, followed by putting on the dress, shoes, and big, dangly silver earrings Darcy pushed at her, along with a thick silver cuff. When they were both dressed Darcy pulled her in front of the full length mirror and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"See? Look at us, we'll be total guy magnets. I'll be your wing-woman cause you're seriously terrible at the whole flirting thing."

Jane stared at herself; she looked like that other person, sexier, bolder, prettier. Her black dress had an uneven hem that went just past her knees with a moderate slit in the front; studs lined the hem, slit, and edges of the sleeveless, clingy dress. Her hair and smoky eyes made her look like a stranger to her eyes. Darcy's glittery shoes, bouncy hair, and red lips went with her personality incredibly well, and her dress skimmed her thighs, but hugged her waist before becoming a little strained on her chest. Her breasts were on quite a display. Jane could not help but stare a little simply because there was so much there.

"Yeah, I know, I have an amazing rack. I totally want to see if I can make Steve pass out from the massive blush he's going to rock."

"Darcy! That's just mean."

"Yeah, but you're not arguing that it won't happen. Just imagine it! It'll be great. I bet he'll stutter too!"

Jane was pretty sure Darcy was right. "Maybe a little funny. But we'd better go, we're going to be late as it is."

"We're, like, totally on time. Pretty girls should always be a little late so they can make an entrance. Trust me."

For her assistant's purposes Darcy could not have planned her entrance better. Darcy walked straight into Captain America five steps from the door and then he spilled some of his beer straight onto her cleavage.

The poor man was so red and stuttering so badly that Darcy was having a horrible time not laughing. She was not succeeding at all, which was making her chest bounce, which was attracting quite a lot of male attention and the poor captain could not tear his eyes away as he tried to apologize even though it was clear he wanted to be looking anywhere but there.

Jane took pity on him and collected a large cloth napkin from the buffet table and tossed it at Darcy, "Here, you can clean up with that."

Roger's eyes finally broke free of the spell and shot straight up to Darcy's eyes and he stuttered out an apology, "I am s-so, so, so s-s-sorry about that Miss Darcy, I am so sorry. If that harmed your dress at all I'm more than happy to have it dry cleaned for you, ma'am."

"Don't you worry about a thing, captain," Darcy said and grinned. "Then again... I think I know just the way you could repay me. There's a dance floor here, and I'm in need of a dance partner."

Jane shook her head as Darcy grabbed Roger's hand and dragged him to the dance floor. She had no idea if Darcy had a bit of a crush on him or if she just liked to tease the poor man.

Jane meandered back to the buffet, not seeing anyone she knew at the moment and surveyed it. There was a lot of food for the party; Tony must have seen to the catering because it was pretty excessive. Especially the entire roast pig. Jane eyed it warily. Nope, no way was she having any of that. She piled up a small plate of finger food and leaned against a wall to do what she always did at parties: watch everyone else and try not to be too bored.

To her credit, after her dance Darcy did bring by a reasonably attractive SHIELD scientist and introduced him, "Hey Jane, entertain Jimmy here, would you? I have got to dance with Steve again, it's just too hilarious."

"Um, hi, my name's-"

"Jimmy, yeah, I caught that," Jane said.

"Actually, um, no. My name's Samson. I really don't know why she called me Jimmy. Is your name actually Jane?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jane said. He really did look like more of a Jimmy, really. Samson sounded more like a golden retriever to her. "Yes, I really am Jane. Jane Foster."

"Oh!"

"So what kind of work do you work on?" He was a fellow scientist. She could totally do this.

"Oh, well, I'm a meteorologist. I just love studying cloud formations. Give me an overcast day and I'm a happy guy. What about you?"

This was never going to work. "I'm an astrophysicist, I'm more of a clear skies kind of girl."

"Oh, right. That's, uh, interesting," he said. He said 'oh' a lot. Jane found it annoying already. "So when do you think I can dance with Darcy?"

Jane felt her eyebrow twitch. "I don't think she's going to dance with you, Jimmy." She walked off and grabbed a mini cupcake with chocolate icing on the top. She stuffed the entire thing into her mouth, getting chocolate on her nose and not reallycaring that much. Parties never went well for her.

"Greetings mortals of Midgard!" A voice boomed across the large room. "The Avengers have vanquished a vile threat, let us rejoice and celebrate this momentous occasion; feast, drink, and be merry!"

Then, Thor somehow saw, of the one hundred or so people at the part, Jane. With chocolate on her nose. He was walking towards her after his proclamation. Jane was nowhere near the ladies room.

She got the chocolate off of her nose before Thor spoke, but it was a near thing, and he definitely saw it; his mouth twitched.

"Jane, I did not know you would be attending this feast."

"Darcy made me."

"I hope that we may not be awkward in the future," he said.

He was whispering, and it still carried; he was drawing attention. Jane felt more and more eyes upon her. Her... whatever with Thor was not known to very many people. Why was he doing this in front of everyone? Now they would have questions and would want her to answer them all and drag up everything because she was much less scary looking than Thor, a much easier target. "Yeah, um, sure, I need some air."

"Jane-" Thor started, but Jane ducked away to the balcony and he did not try to follow her.

The balcony was dark and blessedly empty. Jane felt a tear slip down her cheek and she brushed at it angrily. Great. The make-up Darcy put on her was going to streak and do all the other horrible things make-up did when girls cried. It just made her tear up all the more.

"That oaf does not comprehend the concepts of subtlety or timing," someone said, velvet voiced, with an accent.

An Asgardian accent. She could not deal with Thor's friends right now. Jane could not even speak; it would make her cry more. A tall, lean form came to rest his pale forearms on the railing as he looked out over the city. He wore Midgardian clothing; his cuffs were green.

A sinking feeling flood through Jane as her eyes followed the cuff to the black suit jacket, and met with long, black hair, then a pale, aristocratic face with green-blue eyes. She had seen that face from footage in New York. Horrible footage from some other country as well. Jane knew it had been decided he was now on their side, that he had been controlled, or something, before. He was also known as a trickster. Jane wanted to run.

"I see my reputation precedes me," Loki said dryly. "Now you know why I am out here. I cannot imagine you came by choice either, to a party that Thor is attending."

"Are you really a good guy now?" Why did she say that?

His lips quirked up minutely. "I suppose we'll all find out eventually, won't we?"

Jane could either avoid Thor (and the party) by staying out here, or she could avoid Loki. She decided it was like voting for the president: choose the lesser of two evils. "I guess so."

Loki evidently picked up on her choice for his lips turned up again. "Would you like a drink?"

"Yeah."

"Champagne or something harder?"

That one was an easier choice. "Harder."

Loki promptly held out a high ball glass with two fingers of amber liquid. "Courtesy of Tony Stark. Johnny Walker blue label, I believe."

"How did you?" Jane mumbled, confused as she took the glass.

"Magic and mischief," Loki said, his smile wide for a moment.

Jane took a long sip as she mulled that answer over. The scotch was surprisingly good, she had to admit, and while it warmed her belly it did not burn her throat. "How does magic work?"

"A very intricate and advanced understanding of science, I suppose you might say," Loki said, sipping from his own glass. "It's all about manipulating forces and energy, I would suppose is the best way to describe it to an astrophysicist. Magic can be measured, if one is expert enough, but it also requires some innate ability as well."

Jane nodded slowly. "I never thought there would be a day when I would believe in magic."

"I never thought I would live on Midgard," Loki said, but his statement was much drearier.

"Midgard isn't that bad," Jane said, then paused. She had very limited experience. "Is it?"

"I'm over a thousand years old and here I would be, what? Late twenties or early thirties. I was a mere child at that age. I don't believe my head would have passed your waist."

"That sounds," Jane paused. "Weird."

"Humans are always so frantic, so obsessed with the passing of time because it consumes them so very quickly."

"A thousand years," Jane thought aloud. "When you add in what age a human would, say, make friends with you, how long before they became old and preferred companionship of those that were more their generation... That would probably only give you about forty years at most. To a human that's half a lifetime. To you, well, how long do Aesir live to be?"

"Roughly five thousand, generally speaking."

"You live over sixty human lifetimes. I can't even imagine..."

Loki smiled faintly. "I'm stuck on Midgard, however, for quite some time, by my standards. Let us speak of happier things."

Jane sipped at her drink. "Sorry, I'm not really in a mood to think of happier things."

"He does quite well at ruining moods," Loki said and handed her a new drink as she drained away the last drops in the first glass. "After a little 'liquid courage' let us dance; it will quite likely infuriate the dunce."

At first, Jane declined, but as she made her way through the drink, and a third, Loki gradually cajoled her into returning to the dance floor. He promised he would not let her step on his feet on the claim that he was an excellent dancer. Jane supposed he ought to be compared to a human; he had already lived sixteen times longer than the average human.

Loki twirled her onto the floor and the room spun, but Loki's grip was firm and he was solid and steady where Jane gripped harder than she normally would. Loki's hand slid down her back to graze the top of her rear and she should have been angry, but it felt delicious instead so she let him pull her closer as the tempo slowed. He kept her swaying in time and she rested her forehead on his shoulder.

Several songs passed; they did not talk, and on the fast song Loki resumed twirling her around the floor, acting the perfect dance partner. Jane did not mind the silence. She forgot to wonder if her make-up had run, she even forgot about Thor. All she could think about were green eyes always looking into her own, hands drifting where they should not.

His breath whispered against her ear. "I am afraid my plan has backfired. I do believe my idiot of a brother is going to come over here and congratulate me on making a friend and express his delight that you are not allowing any hard feelings for him to stand in the way of befriending myself."

She remembered the tears, running make-up, the way Thor made her feel so unimportant. "No. No, no, no."

"Kiss me, Jane. He would not interrupt something as obvious as _that_."

Alcohol sloshed through her brain and the pain of lost love stayed any thoughts she might have had. Jane wrapped her arms around Loki's neck and stood on tiptoe to reach his mouth. She brought her lips to his and his arms locked tight around her. She was desperate and frantic to keep Thor _away_. It was her tongue that flicked against his closed mouth, but his lips slid open easily; his tongue slipped out to tease her own, while his hand drifted up to tangle in her glamorous hair.

Her eyes flickered open once, just long enough to see Thor's shocked face. She shut her eyes tight to block out his image, focusing instead on the scent of leather and snow, the warm taste of his mouth, the feel of her hair pulled tight, her body flush against hard, lean muscle.

Loki pulled them back through the balcony, thankfully near for Jane did not want to break from those strong arms. Then Jane realized she had most definitely gone overboard and pulled her arm away from Loki's grip on her wrist.

His grip tightened and he pulled her to him, and any thought of resistance was gone. She threaded her hands through his silky dark locks and he let out a soft hiss; his hands wandered to cup her rear, up her back, down again to settle on the soft flesh, pulling her ever closer; his mouth moving from her lips to her jaw, down her neck only to meet the edge of her dress. Loki was kissing her again before she knew he had left her neck, his tongue danced with hers; tasted and teased her mouth and he pulled her hard against him; hard enough her breasts pressed into his chest and his erection strained against her thigh.

Her next words were breathless, needy, and nothing she would ever say. Jane did not care. "Let's get out of here."

Loki's grin was wicked. The next moment the world shifted; when it righted they were in a bedroom.

"Magic?" Jane said.

"Yes," he said, but he paused. He was not holding her close now, his hands resting lightly on her upper arms, barely touching her at all.

This was far too much, did he not want her now? A farce to toy with Thor? It started as that. "Handy," Jane said. She could hardly catch her breath now; she wanted to cry all over again and looked down. Her eyes fell immediately onto the very strained crotch area of his pants.

"Jane, are you sure?"

Worry faded away; he had simply given her a chance to walk away unscathed. It made heat pool low in her belly so she pressed herself up against him again and kissed him for all she was worth.

(Authors note: As I mentioned in my note, per fanfiction policy I cannot post explicit content so if a link to that, if you like, is: (archiveofourown dot org slash works slash 1768291 slash chapters slash 3783625) replace dot with a period and slash with / and leave out the spaces and you should be good to go.)

In the morning, she woke to the feeling of lost warmth and blinked her eyes open just long enough to wish she had not and groaned softly. An answering groan made her eyes open wider and focus on a pale, bare chest, which she followed up to dark hair brushing the tops of shoulders and blue-green eyes slitted open.

It hurt her head too much to think about Loki naked in bed beside her, much less look at him, so she settled for closing her eyes and burrowing her head back into her pillow.

"By Odin's beard," he muttered and rolled onto his back, running his hand down his face. "I do believe scotch is rather a more lethal drink than I had expected."

She couldn't summon a single response apart from another groan and shutting her eyes tighter. She heard a chuckle and the bed shifted.

Only then did it slam into her head that she was naked, next to Loki, also naked, in a strange bed. She sat up so fast her head reeled. "You... I... Oh my god."

"I do recall you saying something along those lines last night," Loki said and smirked.

"Oh, oh god."

"That one too."

"We... we made out in front of _Thor_."

"And that is your main concern," he said. "Not that you had sex with a near stranger after too much to drink but that Thor saw you kissing another man. Well, aren't you just the pathetic little mortal, too high over the moon to have a care about anything else-"

"It's embarrassing that he saw! It's not like I want to get back together with him," Jane snapped. "I mean I spent more time with you last night than I spent in my entire 'relationship' with Thor. And can we not argue right now? I have a hangover from hell and my head hurts and I feel sick and I just want to sleep until I don't want to die, and I'm sure you want me out of here as soon as possible. This is your place, right?"

Loki stared at her and frowned. "I may have a solution to our mutual dilemma. Wait here, sleep if you want." He sighed and heaved himself off the bed and padded out of the bedroom. Jane shrugged and laid down, closing her eyes into blessed darkness.

The next thing she was aware of was her name being called. Her headache was raging and she wanted to be awake even less this time, so she groaned into the pillow and said, "Let me sleep."

"I have brought an Asgardian remedy that has helped many a drunken oaf."

"Are you calling me an oaf?" Jane sat up slowly, opening her eyes minimally, cradling her head when she was upright.

"No, I'm saying it was created for those much worse off than yourself," Loki said. "I am drinking it as well, and I am most certainly not an idiot."

"Does it have raw eggs?"

"Why would a 'hangover cure' involve such a thing?" Loki said. "No, this is mainly water with salts, infused with herbs to settle the stomach and make it taste better. And, of course, my own special blend of magic for better effect."

"If my mind worked I think I would say that actually sounded plausible science-wise," she said and held out her hand for the glass.

"I'm going to ignore that statement," Loki said. "As it is quite insulting, and I don't believe that was your intention."

Jane sipped the concoction and discovered it went down rather easily, considering the state of her head and stomach. In fact, as soon as it met her stomach she felt a little better. She took a couple more sips, and Loki sat on the edge of the bed, focused on his own glass.

After a third of the glass was down, she said, "I didn't mean to be insulting. Hangover cures on Midgard are usually folk remedies that make no sense and do nothing to actually help a hangover. In fact, the only real thing that helps here is to have a saline IV."

"An IV?"

"Oh, IV is intravenous. It's when a tiny tube is inserted into a vein and a medication or liquid is infused into the bloodstream."

"And that is not a form of torture?"

"No, it's the best way we have to administer antibiotics."

"I suppose I could see how it could be used beneficially, but it sounds utterly appalling," Loki said and drained his glass. "Once you're done I'll take you to your home. I must say I have no idea where it is that you live.

"I live in Stark Tower, actually. I get to stay for free because of Shield," Jane said.

"You may also wish to dress before I take you there," Loki said, grinning widely.

"Not until you're not in here so I can find my dress," she said; the sheet was wrapped tight around her chest.

He clucked his tongue. "Showing up at home in the same thing you left in the day before. My, my."

Jane looked down, feeling her cheeks burn. "I've never done something like this before. I really haven't."

"I have heard that line many times," he said. "However, I rather believe you, I think."

Loki was wearing low-slung black, soft-looking pants and they provided her a most excellent view of his rear as he sauntered to his bureau to withdraw a pair of slacks.

He disappeared through a door, slacks in hand, so Jane dressed as quickly as she could, feeling awkward wearing the same clothing as before. A short while later, Loki knocked on the door, and Jane invited him inside. He was wearing casual slacks and a shirt checked with green. He looked far better than Jane did with her finger-combed hair and wrinkled dress and it made her feel grumpy.

"Ready to go?"

"I guess." What she really wanted was a shower and no one to know she had had a one-night stand, let alone with Loki. However, everyone had to have figured that out after their display on the dance floor. Jane could just imagine Darcy waiting inside her apartment for her.

Loki seemed to understand her reservation instantly, judging by his growing smirk. "Very well then," he said and offered her his hand.

Jane took it and Loki pulled her close to him, wrapping his other arm around her. "Close your eyes," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

The world felt wrong behind her closed eyes but when Loki pulled away and she opened her eyes they were in front of Stark Tower and the world felt steady underneath her feet.

"You handle this sort of travel surprisingly well."

"Really?"

"Mmm," he said, and opened the door for her. Then he followed Jane inside.

She blinked at him. "Yes?"

"Gentlemen walk ladies to their door," Loki said.

Jane shrugged and led the way. She was fairly certain, even in their short acquaintance, that Loki was stubborn. Exceptionally stubborn.

Which was how Darcy saw Loki when Jane opened her apartment door. "Dude! Loki? Um, like, hi?"

Jane opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. Loki, however, looked quite amused. He gave a little wave at Darcy and vanished.

Jane headed inside, sure her face was burning red.

"I totally saw you sucking face last night with Loki and you just did the weirdest walk of shame ever. Deets, everything, spill. Now."

"No way. You can guess enough. I had too much to drink and stuff... happened."

Darcy looked Jane up and down several times, her eyes critical. "So, was he good?"

Jane sat on her couch and buried her head in her hands. "Darcy!"

"Well?"

* * *

Well, how'd I do? If you read the full version... this was my first attempt at such a scene, so please tell me if it was alright!


End file.
